History of the Wars by Procopius, translated by H.B. Dewing

Suggest and discuss books to read (all languages welcome!)
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DismountedCentaur
Posts: 5
Joined: September 29th, 2018, 1:08 am

Post by DismountedCentaur »

Hi everyone,

I'm planning on narrating Procopius' History of the Wars, sometimes known as "The Wars of Justinian", as translated by H.B. Dewing in 1914. I'm an admin on a large Facebook group ("Roman and Byzantine History") and three other people have volunteered, since I suggested the idea nineteen hours ago. I think this could be a fantastic oppurtunity to produce a free audiobook for one of the most important historical works of Late Antiquity.

Books 1 and 2: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/16764/16764-h/16764-h.htm
Books 3 and 4: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/16765/16765-h/16765-h.htm
Books 5 and 6: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/20298/20298-h/20298-h.htm

Books 7 and 8 appear to have been released at a much later date and so aren't public domain yet, however, each is a stand-alone piece of work, which I think should be released as such, and so missing the final two is a shame, but not of huge significance.

Who's interested?
DismountedCentaur
Posts: 5
Joined: September 29th, 2018, 1:08 am

Post by DismountedCentaur »

History of the Wars, Book I, by Procopius of Caesarea, Translated by H. B. Dewing. Translated by Henry Bronson Dewing

Procopius was assigned to be the legal-secretary to the famous Belisarius by the Emperor Justinian. Belisarius was the most important general in both Justinian's Roman/Byzantine wars of reconquest and his wars against the Persians/Sassanids and Procopius, as an educated eye-witness, wrote extensively about the Wars, basing it on both his own experiences, testimonies, and official documents. Accordingly, the Wars form perhaps the most important history of Late Antiquity.
    1. How to claim a part, and "how it all works" here To find a section to record, simply look at point 5. below at the sections. All the ones without names beside them are "up for grabs." Click "Post reply" at the top left of the screen and tell us which section you would like to read (include the section number from the left-most column in the reader list, please). Read points 6. to 8. below for what to do before, during and after your recording.
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    4. Where do I find the text? Source text (please only read from this text!) [remove citation numbers though!]: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16764/16764-h/16764-h.htm
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      Claimed: Chapters 1-5 by Philip Binns, 13-18 by Chris LM
      Unclaimed: 6-12 (one segment for someone?),19-30

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      ===========================================
      This paragraph is temporary and will be replaced by the MC with the list of sections and reader (Magic Window) once this project is in the admin system.
      • Project Code: uj2s5IGj
      • Link to author on Wikipedia (if available): (Procopius of Caesarea) : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procopius
      • Link to title on Wikipedia (if available): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procopius#The_Wars_of_Justinian
      • Number of sections (files) this project will have: Not sure
      • Does the project have an introduction or preface [y/n]: No
      • Original publication date (if known): c. 551
      • If you are a new volunteer, how would you like your name (or pseudonym) credited in the catalog? Philip Binns Do you have a URL you would like associated with your name?:
      ============================================

      Genres for the project: *Non-fiction/History ; *Non-fiction/History /Middle Ages/Middle History

      Keywords that describe the book: history, Roman, byzantine, late antiquity, procopius of caesarea, justinian, theodora, belisarius, history of the wars, the wars of justinian

      ============================================
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      • "History of the Wars, Book I, by Procopius of Caesarea. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit: librivox DOT org"
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      historyofthewarsbookibyprocopiustranslatedbyhbdewing_##_ofcaesarea_128kb.mp3 (all lower-case) where ## is the section number (e.g. historyofthewarsbookibyprocopiustranslatedbyhbdewing_01_ofcaesarea_128kb.mp3)
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Last edited by DismountedCentaur on October 11th, 2018, 11:11 pm, edited 4 times in total.
DismountedCentaur
Posts: 5
Joined: September 29th, 2018, 1:08 am

Post by DismountedCentaur »

A few things to note. I haven't put sections in, as I would prefer not to be prescriptive. A longer stint of narration is preferred for obvious reasons. Book One is divided into thirty chapters so there are obvious break points.

Don't read out the citation numbers!

I'll start this evening and see how far I get and then update the post with reasonable breaks. Depends on who's interested.
TriciaG
LibriVox Admin Team
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Joined: June 15th, 2008, 10:30 pm
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Post by TriciaG »

Hi!

I don't think anyone has set this up for you yet because you're a brand new LibriVoxer. Coordinating a group project takes a lot of commitment and knowledge of how LibriVox works - both from a nuts-and-bolts angle with the Magic Window and technical specs of files, and from a policy/people angle with what is acceptable and what isn't.

Please read these two items in the wiki:
https://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Tips_for_Book_Coordinators
https://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=BC_Readiness_Quiz

Do you think you're ready to coordinate a group project?

P.S. You as book coordinator WILL need to specify sections - where each file will start and end. If not, you'll have utter chaos. :)
Serial novel: The Wandering Jew
Medieval England meets Civil War Americans: Centuries Apart
Humor: My Lady Nicotine
DismountedCentaur
Posts: 5
Joined: September 29th, 2018, 1:08 am

Post by DismountedCentaur »

Hmm, possibly not.

How would I go about acquiring a book coordinator, if not?
TriciaG
LibriVox Admin Team
Posts: 60576
Joined: June 15th, 2008, 10:30 pm
Location: Toronto, ON (but Minnesotan to age 32)

Post by TriciaG »

Posting in Book Suggestions - it doesn't guarantee you a book coordinator, but it's where books are suggested and where BCs look for ideas.

I'll move this over there.

Hopefully you'll stick around. Maybe you'll get the experience to BC this yourself in a couple months or so, if no one else takes it up. ;)
Serial novel: The Wandering Jew
Medieval England meets Civil War Americans: Centuries Apart
Humor: My Lady Nicotine
mattbenzing
Posts: 85
Joined: August 8th, 2018, 12:43 pm

Post by mattbenzing »

I for one would love to contribute to this if it ever goes live.
DismountedCentaur
Posts: 5
Joined: September 29th, 2018, 1:08 am

Post by DismountedCentaur »

Noted.

I need to mull over how to proceed with this, if at all.
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